Asri-unix.893 net.space utcsrgv!utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!sri-unix!Ciccarelli@PARC-MAXC@Berkeley@CCA-UNIX Thu Mar 4 12:26:41 1982 Re: Melting snow with orbiting mirrors You're toying with weather modification on a LARGE SCALE, there! The "heat bubble" of cities already has an effect on surrounding territory; this sort of thing could have all sorts of ramifications on downwind vegetation (crops, trees), for instance. Heat and wind patterns are implicated in desert formation as well! This is of an entirely different class from the Soviet's suggestion of providing city lighting with a spaceborne mirror; that can be done with far less intensity (and thus heat input to the biosphere). Both of these projects also raise substantial legal and freedom-of-choice issues. Legislating freeway construction is one thing; the creation of a (visual) second sun or an omnipresent "Night-light" is quite another. Keep your snow shovel, Will... /John ----------------------------------------------------------------- gopher://quux.org/ conversion by John Goerzen of http://communication.ucsd.edu/A-News/ This Usenet Oldnews Archive article may be copied and distributed freely, provided: 1. There is no money collected for the text(s) of the articles. 2. The following notice remains appended to each copy: The Usenet Oldnews Archive: Compilation Copyright (C) 1981, 1996 Bruce Jones, Henry Spencer, David Wiseman.